Ambience

I got mine delivered today from amazon.de and i have the same problems as Layolachi. I have scratches on the side of all of the three buttons. When you look through the transparent shell (I got the purple one) you can even see a blur of glue. On the side of the recessed screen you can see the glue come out of the border. It nearly touches the screen.

The pressure point of the buttons is worse than the ID L. But after all... it's better than the rubber buttons from the old connections.

The screen is really really really bad. It's possible the worst screen I've ever seen. It's so dim and pale at the same time. The first Tamagotchi had a better screen. My Looney Tunes Giga Pet had a much better screen, because it had a build-in LED (it came out in 1997! Now we have 2014). This would improve the Tamagotchi Friends a lot and you could expect that for 30€.

I had coffee machines with a better display

The Gameplay... it's also bad. The three games I played so far are nice, although they take much more time to play. About 2-2:30 min. for one game. The ID L was 30 sec.

The thing with the jewellery is just useless. They could've also said "Play each game 20 times with each tama to finish it". They don't do anything. There aren't even items (which is really bad) or a discipline function. The park is much worse than the ID L park.

I can't see a simple improvement from the old Tamagotchis. I'd rather play with my old Music star (which was really good. the best b/w tama imo), or v4, v5 ...etc

So far... i'm waiting for my P to get delivered, i think it will cool me down

Jhud

Bandai Japan and Bandai UK/America is NOT the same thing. Their toys always differ a LOT. Seriously, the only tamagotchis that are the same is the Tamagotchi Plus and v1 and some of the vintages, and they still have some differences except the language. Oh, and FamiTama and v5 too. They work under the same name and don't have problems with using trademark names, but they still produce entirely different toys and are indepedent from each other.

Ambience

Thanks for your explanation. Of course they differ, that's why I compared the features.

But after all Bandai UK/USA and so on are SBUs of Namco Bandai Holdings. The Tamagotchi Friends itself may be programmed by some other person than the ID L, I don't know, but they are still released under the same Trademark - Tamagotchi by Bandai (as you mentioned). The development team from Resident Evil 6 may have changed in comparison to RE 5 or 4, but they're still gonna be compared, because that's normal, it's the same brand and as a normal customer you don't know if they changed something. If you see the brand you have a feeling of what kind of quality you can expect.

SakuraLove

I think I've figured out my issue with the Tama Friends. Forgetting the screen or quality concerns, what bothers me is that it's hard to connect to emotionally. With no items, clothes, accessories, etc. it's hard to really connect with it and it definitely feels less like a pet than some of my older versions. Hopefully this all makes sense, but I noticed this while running my V2 and V3. With the older Connections, you look over at your Tama and they might be singing or coming up close to the screen, they go to sleep with their favourite toys and just overall feel like little pets. The TF doesn't really feel this way to me.

I hope I don't offend too many people, I know there are a lot of big fans of the TF but I'm just not one of them. I like it and the sprites are really cute, but I'm really hoping the website makes it more enjoyable to run.

Jhud

I think I feel that way too- I don't have my childhood linked with the P1/P2 or a v1, so I can't help but not be attached that much to a version that lacks things from the previous releases. Still, even v1 has items (that you get from connecting) anyway... And TF is still different from a P1, which I don't like all that much.

tamafan325

You just get used to the screen! After running mine for a few hours, the screen didn't look bad, and now I don't mind it at all! Great Gotchi, people are so...fussy...

that's not being fussy. Maybe you like the scren, but that doesn't mean other people like it. that's their opinion and not being fussy

also, i heard some negative stuff about the TF, it being boring for example. It probably is as so many people say it is, but i'm still interested in one. It's also a greyscale tama, which i like, because a new non-colour tama got released

I'm gonna buy it someday and then i'll look if like it or not. If i like it, good! If i don't, so be it, but i'm still gonna buy it!

XXKayaXX

i heard some negative stuff about the TF, it being boring for example.

If you do hear bad reviews such as that, they are just false rumours. You should ignore them because the TF is the best Tamagotchi I've owned in a very long time. I own one and it's really fun and enjoyable.

So never listen to those things, they're not even the truth. What I am saying is the truth and that is that the TF is beyond anyone's wildest dreams. When you get one, you'll be really glad you did because it's amazing.

SakuraLove

If you do hear bad reviews such as that, they are just false rumours. You should ignore them because the TF is the best Tamagotchi I've owned in a very long time. I own one and it's really fun and enjoyable.So never listen to those things, they're not even the truth. What I am saying is the truth and that is that the TF is beyond anyone's wildest dreams. When you get one, you'll be really glad you did because it's amazing.

This is your opinion, not fact. Not everyone likes the TF as much as you do, but that doesn't make what they're saying untrue. I have two of them and I'll admit that they are becoming rather boring and I'm hoping the website changes that. Everyone is free to make their own judgements, that doesn't make them "false rumours" if they are against what you believe.

Jhud

It's like saying that dogs are not friendly and that's just a rumor, we should all hate them. There are people that don't like dogs and you won't make them like them, no matter what. I know comparing a toy to an actual animal is quite extreme, but from that point of view it is the exact same thing. Also, how can something be a rumor, if I did own a TF, and thought it was boring?

Wesley13j

On topic, how is there a crack on your tama, Wesley? Do you think it was caused by bad handling or is the plastic just bad quality?

Bad Quality. As I said, I thought the first one may have had a crack due to bad handling, yet the second one I got had a crack in exactly the same place (By the A button) that others have mentioned.

In a way, I do enjoy the P's/IDL esque growth pattern of a day between evolutions and 48 hours as an adult before it can date*. I did used to dislike the vintages way of being a child or a teen for days before anything new happened. However, with this Tama it does seem like the aim is to just 'collect 'em all', and with no obvious growth pattern it seems a bit silly.

*At 48 hours as an adult if you set the time to 6.59am twice to get the Tama to 6 years when it wakes at 7am the Date Place appears.

TangoBunny

Oh, curious! I have two cracks near the buttons too, the bigger one near the C button, and a smaller one beside the B button. I thought I was just unlucky, but it seems like they all have these flaws...

I'll admit that I did expect something a bit more modern and well-made for £25... I can't see the screen at all unless I'm sitting in very specific places in my room, which is accurate to old LCD games, but I thought that since it's been around 15 years since the original, they'd at least have a backlight in them by now. ^.^; Even when I'm in the 'perfect lighting', the LCD seems very faded and faint.

I have trouble seeing the icons at the top of the screen as well, because the raised casing casts a shadow over the top of the screen. I can tilt it to a different angle and stare to see it, but then I can't see the icons at the bottom of the screen. It seems a little silly not being able to see all the icons at the same time!

I wish they put a little more care into making something that highly priced. I love the actual Tamagotchi itself (I haven't played any previous versions with clothes and the such), although I do think it's a pain that you can't play certain minigames without bumping. None of my friends have any interest in Tamagotchis, so I guess they'll be locked forever. It's a little silly that the online password thing isn't even online yet, too... ^.^;

Itchigotchii

Mine had TONS of scratches and cracks, but before I played it I thought I could over look that.... WRONG! The gameplay was horrible, not to mention the impossible to see screen it was displayed on. I hated most of the new characters, and I get Coffretchi alll the time! There's hardly anything to do. The only other features I can get are through bumping, but I would never pay money in exchange for another piece of boring junk.

XXKayaXX

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Tamagotchi Friends. It's actually really great any anything BUT boring. The gameplay is great and I like all the games and there are even unlockable ones as well! How good is that!

I've tried the bumping feature and it is a whole lot better than the usual IR Communication. I love how they've got all the new characters on there, from the P's. I love how it is based on the Tama-Go, but it is actually better.

I think the whole jewellery idea is a really cool new feature and actually, not pointless at all. It unlocks new stuff, like when you get to 30, you get a new game. I think it would be really great if there could be items too. That would make it even more nicer. All the features are great and it's one of the best I've ever owned. Every minute spent with my TF is a minute spent in heaven. IT'S THE ONE OF BEST TAMAGOTCHI EVER MADE.

Also, even if something minor appears like a crack or a scratch, it's nothing to me and no matter what happens, I have always and will always love it.